phoboz

February 9, 2023

Have been working on enemy AI and depth for collision detection:

PS. 2 player mode hopefully the be shown next.

February 8, 2023

4 hours ago, 42bs said:

~~This chip is only 16Mbit!~~

Oops, you wrote it. So 2 chips for 4MBytes/32Bit.

Yes, so this will be just like the existing solutions. Not 6MB yet...

Then a voltage level shifter is needed after all.

February 8, 2023

The lz77 packer is actually a quite good, lossless packer. I use it for all graphics and the size become 20-60% of the original size.

I have been fighting with the 4 MB limit for the last 2 games (even if I compress all graphics). Having these 2 extra megabytes will help a lot for future projects, as it gives 50% space.

Much more size than 6MB is probably not needed for games that don't have movie sequences etc. (Like CD games)

6MB is usable on the Jaguar without the need for extra programming tricks, like bank switching. So the ultimate Jaguar cartridge is 6MB in my opinion.

February 8, 2023

2 hours ago, 42bs said:

Are those 16bit wide? Or only 8bit?

The one I checked (A29160B) appears to be usable either as two 8-bit, or one 16-bit memory.

February 8, 2023

18 hours ago, 42bs said:

There are 5V tolerant Flash chips, maybe ask @karri a Lynx dev who did Flash-card for the Lynx.

I found a few 5V Flash memory chips, but most of them have low memory capacity.

The largest one I found was 16Mbit, so several chips would be needed for a 6MB cartridge.

February 7, 2023

2 hours ago, Zerosquare said:

Also, if you use modern Flash memory chips, you're basically recreating the Jagtopus (albeit with 6 MB instead of 4 MB). It may not be worth reinventing the wheel from scratch. (Hint, hint.)

Yes, a 6MB Jagtopus would be nice. Perhaps also with a larger EEPROM for save data.

6MB would still be a considerable improvement over 4 MB, without any additional programming effort (such as bank switching)

1 hour ago, 42bs said:

So it is likely easier to add a second connector to the PCB

Sounds like a good improvement for the original Jagtopus, to avoid the need for a BJL modded Jaguar, an old PC with parallel port, and a PC to Jaguar joystick-port cable (unless you have the dedicated programmer)

2 hours ago, Zerosquare said:

Also, be aware that the current semiconductor shortage is hitting hard on memory chips. Sourcing them is an issue (unless you're OK with buying zero-guarantee stock from China, maybe...)

Yes, that's why it is still an interesting option to use good old EPROMs. Because these chips (sold from China) are not really affected by the semiconductor shortage.

On the other hand, you may end up getting used chips (with a fresh print on), marketed as NOS. I used this method in the past, and 1 in 10 chips had to be thrown in the waste bin.

It's also a time consuming and tedious process to program them, solder them, test the game etc.

February 7, 2023

A step down level shifter can apparently be done using only 2 resistors.

1 hour ago, Stephen Moss said:

so you may have to go to surface mount devices to make space for everything

A design using surface monted resistors will keep the size down, even if the Flash ROM is a DIP IC.

Resistors are not that hard to solder compared to surface mount ICs.

So I may start trying to only do level shifting on the write signals (to avoid chip damage), and see if a logic high signal at 2.7-3.6 V will be interpreted as a logic high on the Jaguar.

A couple of 74HCT244 (octal buffer) may also work as level shifter.

PS. Anyone in Europe who are also in need of a 6MB cartridge PCB? Then we may make a combined PCB order after the design has been validated.

February 7, 2023

9 minutes ago, Stephen Moss said:

For a 3.3/3.6V device the data output on the bus should be high enough that the Jaguar can read it without misinterpreting a 1 as a 0, whereas 2.7V may be a little more hit and miss but the only way to know for sure is to test it at 2.7V.

However, if address (or data) lines which the Jaguar has to write to are not 5V tolerant that could potentially result in damaged to the IC. You could look at using level translation but that requires more components = more cost and space, so you may have to go to surface mount devices to make space for everything.

Yes, you probably need a 5 Volt tolerant chip then (e.g. 74HC vs. 74HCT), or making a separate voltage translation circuit as you mention.

February 7, 2023

33 minutes ago, Jones007 said:

A question from a non-expert:

Is 6 Megabytes the maximum cartridge size? Or could there be also more, via bank switching?
And if 6MB is max, does that also apply for the SD card readers?

6MB is possible without bank switching. Larger sizes seem to be possible (I take the Jaguar GD as proof of that), but then you probably need some microcontroller in the cartridge?

E.g. I don't know if you can program the Jaguar's cartridges lines to do whatever you like.

February 7, 2023

2 hours ago, 42bs said:

I would say, a custom layout with a parallel flash is likely cheaper and easier to program.

I did some research (as I am not so familiar with Flash). Is there something that can connect directly to the Jaguar's interface?

For example I am guessing on Parallell NOR, 64MBit?

How many address lines are needed, I guess it has to be 32 data lines?

The operating voltage seem to be 2.7 - 3.6 Volts on modern chips. Is that directly compatible with the Jaguar, or does it need to be able to handle 5 Volts?

PS. Excuse me for asking such basic questions when it comes to hardware...

February 7, 2023

It turns out I cannot PM him.

@Clint Thompson, you may contact me if you are interested?

February 7, 2023

21 minutes ago, Stephen Moss said:

Clint Thompson was working on some 6MB boards, try sending him a PM here on AtariAge or send an e-mail to info@riscgames.com.

Yes there was a thread on that before, I replied to that I needed a larger quantity. I haven't heard anything more on that (got the impression that he intended to sell smaller quantities) Also I would like to avoid dual import charges, as it will affect the budget.

I guess the PCBs come from China anyway?

Nevertheless I will double check with him again in a PM.

February 7, 2023

55 minutes ago, 42bs said:

Just be sure to cut the write enable after production.

I guess a jumper pulling the WE low is a good option (if a custom design is to be made)

Some kind of adapter between the programmer and the cartridge would be nice.

(If it is possible to source a cartridge connector similar to the Jaguar's)

February 6, 2023

What are the options to make a 6MB cartridge at an affordable price?

Are there any PCB layouts available (to share) which uses 2x 16-bit EPROM?

Is someone making these PCB and selling in larger quantities (e.g. a couple of hundred units)?

February 4, 2023

25 minutes ago, ColecoGamer said:

I’ve been watching this project with great interest. If I may offer one suggestion (if someone else hasn’t already) — the sound effect for the shoulder attack is the same as the final sword swing when fighting, and it doesn’t fit well. Maybe add a thud sound when attacking with your shoulder? It separates the attacks and it will sound more defined. Unless the sound is just a placeholder…

Yes I was a little bit lazy and re-used the sword slash for now, it should be replaced with a more aooropriate sound.

January 31, 2023

3 hours ago, agradeneu said:

From what I have seen of Eternals render artwork in e.g. Asteroite boxart, it is really good creation of character designs.

However, Phoboz, maybe you can explain why they translate to such blurred out and pretty flat appearing sprites in HotG, killing most of the details that the original renders might have displayed?

Iam just wondering if there was a way of improvement, and why this hard downgrade was necessary?

The box art is of course a very high resolution image (thousands times thousands of pixels) in true color, while the Jaguar has a progressive scan resolution of 320x240 pixels.

We experimented with a lot of different renderers, and none of them initially performed well on low resolutions. Because either significant parts of the models disappeared, or the image looked very pixelated due to the high level of detail in a small area. Eventually Krauser found the renderer we are using now, which made the characters look a little bit cartoonish, but at the same time a little bit more realistic than pure hand drawn cartoon characters.

So we both felt thrilled that we had fond the look we wanted for our game. Of course it's a matter of taste, but I think more people have praised the look compared to the people that thought it could improve.

January 31, 2023

1 hour ago, agradeneu said:

I hope you are kidding a bit

To recreate the famous Capcom style and to do it any justice, you would need a bunch of top level pixel artists and probably a decade of work, to pull something off at a professional level, e.g. like Paprium.

Iam not kidding here, I know why I would not attempt such a game as an hobby project. At least if I was aiming for real good pixel art quality.

Going with prerendered/digitized graphics is much more feasable for a hobby project, especially if you plan to finish it within merely 1 year development time.

However, defining pixel art generally as "16 bit" is a curious way of overselling your choice of style though. Because it is not, actually.

90s Capcom arcade games like Darkstalkers demand much more powerful hardware than 16 bit consoles, e.g. CPS2, and they command hardware of the likes of PSX or Sega Saturn (or later also Dreamcast) for faithful home ports.

Many refer them as "32 bit" pixel art graphics, as these graphics showed way more color detail and animations than classic 16 bit consoles (SNES or MD) could realize.

The catch is that every additional animation frame needs to be drawn by hand, which is the reason what makes those games so demanding for pixel artists.

The same goes for any multi parallax backgrounds, that would require weeks/years of work to hand pixel every detail, quite the opposite of photoshopping ready made images.

On the other hand, digizited or prerendered graphics were quite common on 16 bit consoles and even 8 bit, e.g. Mortal Kombat or Donkey Kong Country.

Of course, a lot of those prerendered gfx were brutally downscaled on 16 bit machines due hardware limitations but something like DKC looked almost "nexgen" on the SNES.

Not trying to criticize the project or choice of style as such, IMO, it is a good compromise to create good looking gfx for such a demanding game in a reasonable time frame, especially for a free time project.

As I am not an artist myself I cannot tell. You are ~~probably~~ definately right that it is not an easy task to draw a lot of high quality pixel art by hand. It probably takes a long time too.

I am aware of later installments of Capcom games like the ... vs. Capcom series and the later Street Fighter games on the Dreamcast. At the same time, this art direction is not as iconic to me as it was in the original Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Magic Sword etc.

It's not easy to have a clear definition of post 16-bit style graphics, but a lot of it was indeed pre-rendered in the 90's. That is not to say that it was the only direction, and later we saw a lot more cartoonish art when higher resolutions became available on the game consoles (e.g. from Dreamcast on onwards)

Some may also consider digitized graphics, like in Mortal Kombat etc. to be post 16-bit, at least we have seen some of it in the Jaguar spin-offs of Mortal Kombat.

I guess Hammer of the Gods is a mix of pre-rendered characters, and digitized graphics for the backgrounds. If you forgive me for making up my own definition of the term "post 16-bit graphics"

January 31, 2023

16 hours ago, Senneman said:

Nice work! Seems like a very fun game!!!

... I don't want to intrude myself but I have a few suggestions, such as the animation of the sword - it has some weird smears, sometimes it looks like a white flag. The walkcycle of the main character also does not always seem to be correct. For example: it is standing still and has 3/4 view, when walking it is in profile. Just feels not solid enough. Example from the Animator's survival kit:

The artwork overall feels a bit muddy ... but i suppose some of them are placeholders? 🙂.

Interesting points.

We chose a specific art direction for this game, as we wanted to have a post 16-bit look. It's a little bit hard to define what that is, but if we would have gone for the classical Capcom look it would have become very synonymous to the 16-bit era.

That's not to say that we are ignoring specific opinions on the animations.

@Eternal-Krauser also had similar impressions on some animations when he saw them in action (even if I didn't notice)

In some cases it was I that didn't implement his timing and framing fully according to his specification, in other cases he thinks that a re-work is needed on the actual animation images.

January 31, 2023

14 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

You did an excellent job on the parallax and subtractive colors. Is line scrolling for the ground in the foreseeable future?

Probably not line scrolling, as we use larger images as layers on the levels.

Some layers are parallax behind the player, but some levels also have a faster moving layer in front of the player's layer.

It was done differently for the various stages based on what would look best for the specific environment.

January 30, 2023

27 minutes ago, Zeptari1 said:

When I first came into this thread I was gonna say it reminded me of Sword of Sodan. But I think most would take that as an insult. After watching the January 2023 update I’m super impressed with this game demo. Really makes me want to get back into computer and 3-D rendered art again. Just want to say bravo guys it’s impressive.

Yes Sword of Sodan looked very nice, but I don't remeber much about the gameplay.

January 30, 2023

Januari 2023 update.

Very basic AI.

January 28, 2023

This I like better.

- Focus on the games, not on the politics 😉

Keep it up guys...

January 28, 2023

To much politics, to much anger.

Relax and have fun for God's sake.

It's supposed to be fun, isn't it.

I stepped in because I saw a tendancy that some people get bullied here, and I don't like that. So it was really hard for me to sit idle, sorry if someone got offended by this...

January 28, 2023

29 minutes ago, Jag_Mag said:

You shouldn't disrespect game designers and artists that dedicated a large part of their life to their craft either.

No. In what way haven't I diarespected anyone here?

I am quite sure of that.

I think anyone who reads this discussion can see that. On the other hand, I am quite sure that someone from the outside can see that some other people pour a lot of distespect around here.

January 28, 2023

5 minutes ago, CyranoJ said:

And when you make a game that doesn't drop frames, flicker or plain lock up I'll consider listening to that opinion.

I respect you for your work, but you shouldn't heckle people for trying to making their own engines.

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